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the purpose of caulking is to prevent an unsanitary condition under the fixtures. and by fixtures i mean any fixture that comes into contact with a wall or floor. sinks, tubs, toilets, urinals, bidets, drinking fountains.....

a toilet should be properly tested and flushed several times prior to caulking.

the caulking prevents any outside pee, dirty mop water/mopping from collecting under the fixture and creating an unsanitary condition. in the case of a toilet, you could only imagine the amount of pee that would collect from missing. remember that players with shorter bats need to stand closer to the plate all others need to choke up sometimes you just need to put it into words a kid can relate too

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remember that a toilet of todays standard are only 2 bolts to the floor compared to 4 on old school installs. even worse are the toilets with sub drains like the high end totos.

caulking is both a sealer and an adhesive. 2 bolts will allow most toilets to move and possibly shear off a bolt tab, or rock on an uneven non shimmed floor. caulking will both fill the gap and adhere the china to the floor. not to mention make it legal and sanitary.

rick.

phoebe it is

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the purpose of caulking is to prevent an unsanitary condition under the fixtures. and by fixtures i mean any fixture that comes into contact with a wall or floor. sinks, tubs, toilets, urinals, bidets, drinking fountains.....

a toilet should be properly tested and flushed several times prior to caulking.

the caulking prevents any outside pee, dirty mop water/mopping from collecting under the fixture and creating an unsanitary condition. in the case of a toilet, you could only imagine the amount of pee that would collect from missing. remember that players with shorter bats need to stand closer to the plate all others need to choke up sometimes you just need to put it into words a kid can relate too

the caulking also helps to stabilize a loose toilet.

rick.

Ha! Thanks for puting it into words that I can understand, Rick.
I like that. lol.

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I understand why to caulk, but after that toilet I ain't making it air tight.

Also I don't really advise you stabilize a toilet with caulk. Just install it right. Caulk is for finishing, not supporting...

Guys thanks for the interest. This quote, Caulk is for sealing not stabilizing is exactly what I was talking about when I started this thread. However, it seems that the geniuses from Caroma seem to think differently. They have a policy, or at least until today when they were forced to suck it up, that they wouldnt swap out pans that were set on mud/mortar. So now there is a precedent until such time as they are stupid enough to put it in writing and lose their market for doing so. Down here we have rules and the good book says we can set a pan on mud/mortar. It doesnt say that a manufacturer can shrug off their responsibility with warranty. Silicone is a sealant not a leveler for uneven floors.

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any chance of posting some photos of a "pan" and i don't mean a kitchen pan

we use set our toilets onto a closet flange and a wax ring, a couple brass bolts and caulking to finish it off.

back in my haydays of new construction, 5 minutes a toilet set and caulked was the norm. of course that's after spending half the day first carrying them up the stairs and placing them into the units.

can't picture what's involved in setting a pan and mortar. is the pan set with the toilet or can it be set in advance and follow up with the china days later?

for us, the closet flange is suppose to be installed for rough inspection, prior to any floor finish. but honestly it's better to install the flange after the floor finish so you get a proper finished height on the flange and finished floor. problem is the inspector can't verify proper installation of the flange.

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any chance of posting some photos of a "pan" and i don't mean a kitchen pan

we use set our toilets onto a closet flange and a wax ring, a couple brass bolts and caulking to finish it off.

back in my haydays of new construction, 5 minutes a toilet set and caulked was the norm. of course that's after spending half the day first carrying them up the stairs and placing them into the units.

can't picture what's involved in setting a pan and mortar. is the pan set with the toilet or can it be set in advance and follow up with the china days later?

for us, the closet flange is suppose to be installed for rough inspection, prior to any floor finish. but honestly it's better to install the flange after the floor finish so you get a proper finished height on the flange and finished floor. problem is the inspector can't verify proper installation of the flange.

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I've removed the nuts that hold the bowl down plenty of times and had to kick the side of the bowl to break the caulk seal. On vinyl flooring it can and will rip the floor up with the caulk and thats why its best to cut the caulk first. So dont try to tell me caulk will not stabilize a moving toilet,if the gap is small enough your filling.

When I see the word stabilize, I think it is using caulk to stop a toilet from rocking back and forth.
From sliding left and right? Ya, I can see that if you don't bolt your bolts to the flange before you set the toilet. Assuming everything else is rock solid, you shouldn't need caulk to keep the toilet from moving left or right or wobbling. Assuming you set it correctly.

Caulk is for one thing only. To keep liquids from getting under it. I know you guys are really good plumbers, and I know each job varies WILDLY, but honestly if you are using caulk to set the toilet, not finish it, you're doing it wrong. Yes, even 2 bolt toilets do alright. Now, if you run full speed into the bathroom and drop kick the toilet daily, sure you're going to see problems and caulk will definately help keep a toilet from shifting side to side. but, if you are doing that probably best to get a stainless steel bathroom and weld everything together.

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Ah! That would make sence if "pan" means bowl.
You fellas down under are messin' with our heads. lol.

We are messing with your heads thats a bit rich it amazes me how you have stuck to the British imperial system of measurment and weights and how you call it a water closet another British term when you fought the war of inderpendents to get away from them but still hanker to be part of the British empire as your media had more reporters and television companies in England to cover the royal wedding than any other country and where we in Australia just envoled without a war a toilet pan is where one rests their bum on to have a (pardon me) sh*t and what you call a tank is a toilet cistern and fits on top of the pan to flush it a much more civilized word to use

Tony

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Come on Guys cut us some slack. Yes we do have a little difference in our terminology but rest assured the fact that we have the avenue of communication aka The Ridgid Forum allows us all to get a little wiser. rick I wil endeavour to get a picture in the next couple of days. cant give you a series of start to finish because I dont have one to swap out at present. Down here we are a little different in the way we work. Some do specialise but most take whatever is on offer, work that is. To confirm as has been pointed out previously we call a WC a pan and cistern. Rick I read with interest your post about how you go about putting down a "pan and cistern" and would love to see a manual sometime, maybe you could suggest a link to a manufacturer if you get a chance. It is always interesting for me to see the otehr side of the coin so as to speak. We all believe we are the best of the best but as I have learnt from many of my teachers you never stop learning. Thankyou guys for the fantastic input on this topic.

Tony, was just giving you guys a hard time because of my own stupidity of not knowing all the different words of your language. Heck, I don't know all of the words to my own language! Didn't do too good in my English class.

You do have to admit when you look at a toilet, that it looks more like a bowl and tank though.